A View of the Sky

(Partisan; US: 26 Oct 2010; UK: Import)

Paleo: A View of the Sky

The most impressive thing about the relatively unknown Paleo is his lifestyle. For the last six years, he has lived out of his car, crashing on the couches of strangers, writing songs to escape (or perhaps bask in) the loneliness of the road. But that’s not to say anything about his music. A View of the Sky, his upcoming release, comes to us in much the same fashion: nomadic, unrefined and only roughly planned. The ambient yet emotionally driven lo-fi sounds of the disc could easily pinpoint him in similar classification to M. Ward, but are also reminiscent of the weird-Americana of Devendra Banhart—his quivering voice cracks when he reaches for a new note, the simple melodies subtly grab your ear, and his poeticism is hardly lost in the fold. It may be easy to pass him by, but this is one homeless man you might want to give a second glance.

Jonathan Kosakow has been a regular contributor for PopMatters since 2009, and became Associate Events Editor two years later. He contributes to Glide Magazine's Hidden Track blog (www.hiddentrackblog.com), both on his own and as a member of the editorial collective Three Grown Men. His writing has also appeared on Relix.com and Jambands.com, but most of it can be found on the floor of his apartment or stashed away in files on his computer. Jonathan recently earned his Graduate Certificate in Creative Writing from the University of Denver, and does his best to be an active member of the music and writing community in the Denver/Boulder area. He is the Director of Operations at the Boulder-based company Eco Vessel, and is the co-founder of the music-related website NoiseReport.net, and the beer-related blog beermadeclear.com, both currently in production.